re: Relatives that served in World War 2

Had a cousin that was a WW2 POW for 4 years. He was part of the Bataan Death March. He was an outstanding man and had no animosity towards the Japanese. He wrote a book about his time in Japanese Prison Camp a few years before he passed away.

(no message)

Father’s side grandfather and his brothers and brother in laws in the Army. Spoke French used in communications.

Mother’s side
Grandfather, was in WWI and shoed mules called Blacksmith which what my great grandfather was. Left Mississippi as he could not find work and moved to San Diego, CA.
Too old to fight in WWII.
Needed his skills at the shipyard as he made stuff out of metal and he could make parts for ships as a blacksmith.
All Navy or dept of Navy Marines except one Air Force or air Corp as a pilot.
She lived in San Diego and my 5 Aunts were all married to guys in the Navy or Marines, and somehow air Corp or air force. Yes, my grandfather liked the ladies. My mother was in the younger of 4 still at home. Three Uncles were killed in Pearl Harbor. Two made it out. One ended up being the highest civilian at the Naval base appointed by President Nixon.

Grandpa drove a jeep onto Omaha beach on D-Day. Was a part of Pattons 3rd Army in the Battle of the Bulge

I am amazed actually at how many people said "My Dad" and not grandpa or Great Grandpa.

Keep the pics coming please.

Amazingly.. None of my immediate family served in WWII. They were farmers and were deferred from the draft. In 1944 my grandfather was 34 and grandmother was 31 with 2 kids.

But.. I decided to share some locals from my area that I have researched a little for one reason or another..

William Thompson



He had enlisted in the United States Army. Served during World War II. Thompson had the rank of Staff Sergeant. Service number assignment was 38297251. Attached to 84th Infantry Division, 334th Infantry Regiment.

S/Sgt William G Thompson enlisted on 17 November 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

On 19 December 1944 S/Sgt Thompson was performing duties of the platoon sergeant in addition to his other duties ... On the day of his death he was a squad leader of the Third squad of the Anti-Tank Platoon of First Battalion Headquarters Company.

The mission of his platoon was to provide anti-tank protection for his battalion, which had just taken the town of Wurm, Germany ... The enemy barrage became increasingly severe, and S/Sgt Thompson ordered the men in his crew to take cover.

However, realizing the importance of anti-tank protection in the likely event of an enemy counter attack, he remained in an exposed position to complete the task of placing one gun in action ... By so doing, he lost his life when an enemy artillery shell exploded against the house wall above him ... His self-sacrifice has been a source of inspiration to the men of his company.
William G Thompson is buried or memorialized at Plot A Row 7 Grave 27, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.


Clifton Weaver



(I don't have the story in front of me so I will shoot from the hip and memory) The Story is that on the 23 of January in France US units were trying to cross the Ruhr at the closing of the Battle of the Bugle.

Engineers had build a baily bridge. The Platoon leader later said that the Machine gun was too heavy for one man to carry, but during the battle Clifton ran across the baily bridge carrying the machine gun and he set up alone on the other side of the river. Clifton was killed by enemy fire.

While his actions did not stop the german advance, it did buy enough time for parts of his platoon to cross the baily bridge and set up on the other side and stop the german crossing at that river point.



Roy Edward Ridgeway.




Roy was a waist gunner on a b-29 in the CBI. His plane collided with another during a night training exercise and his plane and full crew fell into the Bay of Bengal South of Calcutta. His body was never recovered.

It was said from his Unkle: "I took him to the train station to report to camp and that was the last time that I ever saw him.:

One uncle was learning how to use a BAR when his father was diagnosed with TB. The Army sent him home to run the farm.
Another uncle had a wife and a couple of kids and stayed home to run his farm.
A third uncle served by working at Oak Ridge.
A fourth uncle was in the Army, but I don't know where he served.
My dad was about to start flight school when the war ended. He served in the Air Force reserves, eventually becoming a LT Colonel.

On my mom's side, her brother was in the merchant marines during the war. My mom did stints in the local lighthouse watching for U-boats.

That war touched the entire country as no other war has, save the Civil War.

I have my father's war records and purchased a few copies of his war medals. Mounted a set on a shadow board and gifted my brother and son with a mounted set.

Was not able to get the records for my uncle in the 101st, they were distroyed in a fire at the war records archive building years ago. Damn shame.

My father served in the Navy in WWII. He entered in the Phillipines invasion and saw Okinawa and post war Japan. My dad died the month before Covid lockdowns hit in 2020. He was 95

My FIL served in the Army and was on the ground in Okinawa. He had full hearing disability from the shelling but did not claim any of it until he retired. He recently died at the age of 97. He was the last living combat vet from WWII in his town.

I had several other uncles and such that served as well. Almost all men of that age were drafted.

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Uncle (4) was on the USS Missouri and is actually in the picture of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.

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My uncle took a photo of your uncle, and others, on the USS Missouri (not the pic you are referencing) during the Japanese surrender signing in Toyko Bay. LOL

I mentioned in my earlier post on the same page (8) my uncle was the radar operator on the B-29 “Dangerous Lady, he was also amateur photographer. He took this aerial photo from the “Lady” during a planned flyover as the surrender treaty was signed.

MacAuthur was all about pomp and circumstance and wanted a flight of B-29s from Tinian as a flyover, among other aircraft, during the signing ceremony. His ship was the #2 aircraft in a flight formation of 15 B-29s. My uncle’s hand written notation on the photo is written in his WII photo album. Missouri is the ship in the middle. I took this photo from his WWII photo album displayed at a family reunion in 2019, hence the poor quality.